Posted on 11/22/2005 10:56:04 PM PST by Daralundy
NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 22, 2005 — - Three months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, thousands of people are still unaccounted for, and authorities are at a loss about how to track them down.
A group of New Orleans firefighters today went searching for bodies in the Lower Ninth Ward -- for the third time.
"On November 7th, we found five bodies. On November 8th, we found two," said Fire Department Chief of Cperations Steve Glynn.
Glynn says it would be much easier to search for the missing if he knew who they were.
"We'll find them in small groups as we get better information," he said.
When residents were forced to evacuate New Orleans, it was utter chaos. Families were shipped to different parts of the country, and no one took records. Authorities say they are now having a tough time keeping track of who is missing.
There's even widespread disagreement on the numbers. The states say there are nearly 4,700 people unaccounted for. The National Center for Missing Adults, however, puts the number at 6,644 -- with 4,000 cases being actively investigated by the agency, said Kym Pasqualini, chief executive of the NCMA.
Authorities expect to find most of these people in shelters or apartments -- most a state or two away.
'It's a Horrible Thing' But the number of people unaccounted for is so high, officials worry there are more dead still to be counted.
"There's a lot of places where they're not letting people in because of the devastation," one returning resident told ABC News. "So it's very likely there are people in attics. It's a horrible thing."
Some of the missing are most likely already in the state morgue.
More than 400 bodies remain unidentified. DNA tests would provide answers, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency and states impacted by Katrina have been arguing over who will pay for them.
New Orleans resident Shawanne Mickey-Scott says, technically, her grandmother is missing. But possibly, she's in the same morgue where the family found her grandfather.
"We're just trying to get some closure with my grandmother," she said. "Once we get her, locate her body, put her to rest with my grandfather, then we can go ahead and grieve."
State officials say it could take years to get an accurate count of just who is missing, dead, or alive.
Woulod be a good way to dump a spouse or thousands of dollars of debt. Just never report in.
Sounds like some folks didn't want to go back and had nothing much to go back TO. A chance to start over?
They're probably looking for all the people on the New Orleans city payroll who never really existed.
That was my first thought; how many of them don't WANT to be found?
and voter lists.
BINGO!
This is actually true with the police department.
The problem in a lot of cases was, they were looking for these people before the hurricane so they could arrest them.
The local (So. Calif.) Fox Sports Net channel showed a couple of kids from New Orleans that had moved out to California and were playing on the Valencia high school football team. They asked the kids how they liked it and they said "It's real different (than New Orleans) because everybody is so nice to us here".
I don't think they'll be returning.
I always used to laugh when people called New Orleans the city that care forgot. I always thought it was the city that forgot to care.
Me and muh search dawg went down there, We didn't git lost. It was nasty. We found some bodies, I had to wash him off with bleach. He was a good dawg.
They should try looking in the 250 thousand refrigerators I saw going to the dump.
Bush sent them to Guantanamo Bay.
(sarcasm)
How about all those CARS that were sitting in front of the those flooded homes??? Watch the videos. Cars and trucks just sitting there begging to be driven out.
Like the tsunami in SE Asia I bet a lot of people simply got washed out to sea and became fish food.
Bingo! Plenty DON'T want to be found, ever. They may have left bad marriages/relationships, left their kids even. Who knows? Something else to consider...some of them don't NEED to report back to LA "officials". It's none of LA's business where some of these people moved off to. LA is trying to pin the blame on Bush and force people to return etc...LOL.
I didn't know cities took attendance. Couldn't someone just leave and not tell anybody?
UNlike the tsunami, these people had DAYS to prepare. Now the rest of us have to pay the price of their ignorance.
...and...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.